Jiang Wei was shocked when he heard this. He had stayed in the Mianyang Tuntian District for a long time. Deng Ai's tens of thousands of villagers could pick up knives even if they lost their hoes. Indeed, they would not be easily manipulated by outsiders. Yizhou's strategic depth is so deep It is so big that even if it is at the end of the road and settled in a corner, it can still maintain a political power in Shu.
At this time, Jiang Wei thought of Liu Zhang. If he hadn't taken the initiative to invite Liu Bei to Sichuan, maybe someone else would be competing with Cao Wei and Sun Wu now?
Looking at Pang Tong and Ma Chao next to him, Jiang Wei completely gave up the idea. Liu Zhang didn't have any great talents. Now he has lived in Lingling for ten years under the rule of Lantian, enjoying his old age and preserving his descendants. If he really competes with those strong men, In the world, the fate may be similar to that of Tao Qian, Liu Biao and others.
When Liang Qian saw Jiang Wei bowing his head in deep thought, he also clasped his fists and offered his advice: "My brother is now living in Tianshui Gongcao. If the generals have the intention to attack Ji County, Qian is willing to find a way to contact him and make an internal response."
"General Liang, don't be in a hurry. There is a place where we can use you. At this time, we can just hold Shanggui. Later, we can slowly take advantage of Longyou. You and Bo Yue have to hide now and boldly contact the relatives in Ji County. Maybe Instead, your family will be harmed." Pang Tong stopped him in time.
"Well, I think it's simple, general, but it's better for the military advisor to think carefully." Liang Qian clasped his fists in thanks.
Jiang Jiong was the previous Tianshui Gongcao and was closely related to the current Gongcao Liang Xu. Jiang Wei had been taken care of by the Liang family when he was a child. Shanggui was easily captured because of Jiang Wei's persuasion to surrender. He had deliberately surrounded and failed to Attack is all Pang Tong's plan to confuse Cao Zhen.
The topography of Shanggui is similar to that of Chencang, with the Wei River to the north and the Qinling Mountains to the south, but the city is not as strong as Chencang.
Pang Tong adopted proactive defense, which was completely different from Zhang He's passive defense. In addition to deploying city defenses in Shanggui City, he also asked Zhang Fei to camp on the mountain side of Shanggui in the south, creating a dichotomy between the county town and the wild camp.
Cao Zhen was shocked when he learned that Fei Yao had surrendered to the enemy and Shanggui had fallen. He gathered troops from nearby Ji County and headed for Shanggui. When he saw the formation deployed by the opponent, he knew he had encountered a master.
After scouting and reconnaissance, they found out that it was a combination of Zhang Fei and Pang Tong, and Cao Zhen felt a chill in his heart.
Zhang Fei is the representative of the enemy of ten thousand people, and Pang Tong is Liu Bei's mastermind. Cao Zhen has no confidence in front of them, and instantly loses confidence in supporting Chen Cang.
During the confrontation at Shanggui, Cao Zhen launched several tentative attacks. Due to the limitations of the narrow terrain of the Wei River, although Cao Zhen's force was more than twice that of Zhang Fei, he still failed to exert his advantage.
Zhang Fei relied on Shanggui County to turn against the enemy, and the Wei River grain road was cut off by Liu Bei's army. The Wei army was reduced to a lone army standing in the wilderness. The grain and grass supplies had to be transported from Longyou overland. Cao Zhen's good home battle was suddenly changed by Pang Tong It was an away game, and only the generals of the Wei army knew the uncomfortable feeling in their hearts.
Yin Shang, the chief secretary of Tianshui, saw that the two families were at a stalemate, so he went out to suggest: "General, Zhang Fei's troops are in Shanggui now and he has given up the Qishan Road. Why don't we divide our troops in Qishan? Take the opportunity to destroy Zhang Fei's Qishan camp and intercept and kill the opponent. The food team will make it difficult for Zhang Fei to leave Qishan again in the future."
"Divide troops into Qishan to destroy Zhang Fei's empty camp? What's the point of us doing this? Liu Bei is attacking Chencang with all his strength at this time. They can use the Wei River to transport grain. Where is there a grain of grain in Qishan?" Cao Zhen shook his head and smiled bitterly.
"But we are at a stalemate with Zhang Fei here. It is difficult to break through the Shanggui line of defense in a hurry. If we continue to stand against each other for a long time, we will only waste money and food. If we don't find other ways to break the situation, we may fall into Pang Tong's trap." What Yin Shang means is not to sit still and wait for death. , it is better to find something to do than to waste time here.
Cao Zhen held the root of the mountain with his left hand and gestured back and forth on the map with his right hand. He had already read the battle report from Luoyang. At this time, he finally discovered Liu Bei's purpose. There were fierce battles all over the country, and the opponent's center of gravity was actually on his own. Yongliang.
Zhang Fei and Pang Tong used 30,000 troops to contain the main force of Wei State Yongliang. Cao Zhen was not willing to be led by the opponent. Once Liu Bei captured Chencang Fortress, the entire Guanzhong would never have peace.
Cao Zhen had a dark face and punched the table with a bang, which made all the generals in the tent tremble.
"Zhang Fei and Pang Tong fall in love with Gui, so let them stay here to celebrate the New Year. Governor Ma ordered the generals of each battalion to immediately clean up their troops and return to Hebei County at dawn tomorrow." Cao Zhen made a bold decision.
Ma Zun clasped his fists and asked, "Zhang Fei, don't care?"
"Of course not." Cao Zhen shook his head and said, turned to Zhao Yu and ordered: "I will leave five thousand troops for you. We must keep the current number of camps unchanged. Remember that even making fire and cooking must be spread out as much as possible, and use bluff to contain Zhang Fei. these people."
"You also want to take the Longshan Road from the street pavilion?" Zhao Yu seemed to have some idea.
"That's not entirely true. Liu Bei has a big plan this time. I'm afraid Chencang is not his ultimate goal." Cao Zhen raised his eyes.
"You mean Chang'an?" Ma Zun thought of Xia Houmao and thought that he was unreliable. Moreover, there were only 20,000 to 30,000 people in Chang'an. He might encounter Liu Bei's army and abandon the city and escape.
Cao Zhen replied: "It's not impossible. Xiahou Junlin (Xiahou Ru) has 20,000 people. I'm afraid it won't be enough. I have to bring some myself."
"Chencang and Chang'an are both fortified cities. It is understandable for the general to worry about losses in Guanzhong, but what if Zhang Fei takes the opportunity to attack Tianshui and Longyou?" Whether Chencang and Chang'an are impregnable is not within the scope of Ma Zun's consideration. He, Tianshui, The prefect only worried about his own comfort.
Cao Zhen said with a solemn expression: "Prefect Ma, you can rest assured. Chencang and Chang'an should be fine for a while. I will not leave Tianshui immediately, and I will leave enough defenders behind."
"It won't be a big deal." Ma Zun nodded with satisfaction.
At dawn the next day, both sides of the Wei River were quiet, and Cao Zhen quietly retreated toward Ji County.
On the way, Cao Zhen sent many messengers. Some of them went south to Wuwei to find Zhang Ji, the governor of Liangzhou, some went to Anding County to mobilize troops and go south to Chang'an, some sent to Chang'an to warn Xiahou Mao, and some rushed to Luoyang to ask for help from Cao Pi.
At this time, a small loss of face is a big deal, not to mention that Cao Zhen was facing the elite of Yizhou, and he was under pressure beyond his own load.
Cao Zhen stayed in Ji County for more than ten days. It was estimated that Zhang Ji had led his troops southward at this time, so he led 40,000 elite troops to Jieting in the northeast.
At this time, the battle against Chencang had become intense. With the assistance of a large number of siege equipment, Liu Bei's army suffered nearly 10,000 casualties in twenty days. Although the battle scene was extremely tragic, it still failed to defeat Chencang.
Fazheng's strategy of diverting water to irrigate the city was used twice, but the effect was not as powerful as expected. The Wei River in winter is in the dry season. When the water level is not that high, diversion of water to irrigate the city requires cofferdams to form a drop impact, and in winter The manpower required increased exponentially, and the civilian men Zhuge Liang deployed for Liu Bei seemed to be no longer enough.
(End of chapter)
